Finance Major

Finance Overview

Today’s financial industry requires rigorous and specific training in addition to general management, economics and mathematics skills. Clark’s major in finance aims to cover the important skills required in today’s financial industry: investment analytics, knowledge about capital markets and various capital market vehicles, corporate finance, and emerging topics such as financial derivatives (such as options, futures, swaps, etc.), cryptocurrencies, green investing, and impact investing.

The finance major as well as the courses included in it will help Clark students gain essential skills to launch into the highly competitive industry, and eventually become creative and socially responsible financial managers, experts, or researchers in both private and public sectors.

The finance minor will cover core finance courses to help students master key financial skills in a relatively compact program, and at the same time provide them with the flexibility to complement their majors with different elective courses depending on their career preferences.

Clark’s tradition of challenging convention and changing the world is evident in our undergraduate programs, and nurtures innovative and socially responsible entrepreneurs and industry leaders. Our undergraduate and graduate business programs are accredited by the AACSB-International -The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Major Requirements

The finance major requires 12 units of courses, including 7 business core courses, 1 capstone course, 3 required finance courses, and one elective course. ECON 010 is also a required program pre/corequisite.  A minimum 2.0 overall grade point average in major courses is required.  Students must take all finance major courses for a letter grade, except for FIN298.

Students interested in combining the finance major with another program of study in the School of Bussiness can minor in that subject (Entrepreneurship, Management, and Marketing). A dual major between two majors in the School of Business is not an option.

Prerequiste or Corequiste:

ECON 010 - Economics and the World Economy  

Business Core Courses (7 units):

MGMT 100 - The Art and Science of Management  

ACCT 101 - Principles of Accounting  

BAN 104 - Introduction to Management Information Systems  

QBUS 110 - Quantitative Methods for Managers  

FIN 142  - Principles of Finance

MGMT 210 - Management and Behavioral Principles  

MKT 230 - Marketing Management  

Finance Courses (4 units):

3 Required Units

FIN 240 - Corporate Finance  

FIN 241 - Investment Management  

FIN 242 - Capital Markets  

Choose 1 unit from the following

ECON 213 - Money and Banking  

MATH 210 - Introduction to Quantitative Finance  

ACCT 203 - Management Accounting  

FIN 298 - Internship  

Capstone (1 unit):

MGMT 260 - Applying the Art and Science of Management (Capstone)  

Honors

Finance majors with outstanding academic records (a cumulative GPA of at least 3.7) may apply to pursue departmental honors. To receive departmental honors, a student must successfully complete an applied honors research project. Prospective candidates for honors are invited to apply to complete honors research in the spring of their junior year, and only selected students will be given permission to take the honors course, FIN 297  , during their senior year. The honors course is a 1 unit/one-semester course and is taken in addition to all other major requirements.  Students completing departmental honors must present to the department faculty and present a poster at Clark Fest as part of their requirements.

Program Faculty

Finance Courses

Offered within the last 2 years

• ACCT 101 - Principles of Accounting
• ACCT 203 - Management Accounting
• BAN 104 - Introduction to Management Information Systems
• FIN 142 - Principles of Finance
• FIN 240 - Corporate Finance
• FIN 241 - Investment Management
• FIN 242 - Capital Markets
• FIN 298 - Internship
• FIN 299 - Directed Study
• MGMT 100 - The Art and Science of Management
• MGMT 210 - Management and Behavioral Principles
• MGMT 260 - Applying the Art and Science of Management (Capstone)
• MKT 230 - Marketing Management
• QBUS 110 - Quantitative Methods for Managers